Caliper Placement - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

JWoj3540 · 10-27-2011, 12:44 PM

This is a general car question...is there a reason for caliper placement differences? Let me clarify with some pictures. In the pic of the vette below, the front calipers are on the back side of the rotor, but thre rear calipers are on the front side of the rotor (this seems to be how it is on most high performance cars).

On more normal cars, however, like the Malibu below, the front caliipers are actually on the front side of the rotor.

On the camaro, however, both front and rear calipers are on the backside of the rotors!

My question is: does calper placement make any difference....is braking better one way or another or is it purely based on packaging reasons (i.e., where they can fit things w/ suspension and other nearby parts)???

Just curious!

JWoj3540 · 10-28-2011, 12:36 PM

Anyone have any clue?

The Stig · 10-28-2011, 12:42 PM

I think it's for packaging reasons. Where you place the caliper shouldn't impact stopping power.

csjcsj · 10-28-2011, 12:45 PM

Never would have noticed if not for someone pointing it out!

JWoj3540 · 10-28-2011, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csjcsj

Never would have noticed if not for someone pointing it out!

haha, not knowing little things like this bother me

JWoj3540 · 11-02-2011, 12:11 PM

bump, anyone else have any idea?

PAUL SS · 11-02-2011, 12:13 PM

I agree with post #3, kind of like why do things under the hood end up where they are.

PfadtRacing · 11-02-2011, 03:09 PM

Well there are a couple different reasons why they positioned the calipers on the Corvette where they do.

1. Because moving as much mass as possible, as low as possible, and towards the middle as possible is almost always a good thing in a performance vehicle. Since it didn't require any more effort to design a bracket to mount the caliper on the back side they may as well do it. You will actually see some LMP race cars who have no rules on where they can mount calipers positioning their calipers at the 4 o oclock position in the front and the 7 o'clock position on the rear to take advantage of this.

2. And the bigger reason... Packaging. The front suspension of a Corvette is packed up pretty tight. The front steering linkage coming from the steering rack is encroaching on space that a caliper mounted on the 9 o'clock position would.

From a braking effectiveness aspect there is little to no difference where you mount the caliper, so long as it's making contact with the brake rotor. More often than not it comes down to where ever you can find space for those big calipers without hitting anything.

10-27-2011, 12:44 PM	#1
JWoj3540 Drives: 2012 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Metro Detroit Posts: 696	Caliper Placement This is a general car question...is there a reason for caliper placement differences? Let me clarify with some pictures. In the pic of the vette below, the front calipers are on the back side of the rotor, but thre rear calipers are on the front side of the rotor (this seems to be how it is on most high performance cars). On more normal cars, however, like the Malibu below, the front caliipers are actually on the front side of the rotor. On the camaro, however, both front and rear calipers are on the backside of the rotors! My question is: does calper placement make any difference....is braking better one way or another or is it purely based on packaging reasons (i.e., where they can fit things w/ suspension and other nearby parts)??? Just curious!

10-28-2011, 12:45 PM	#4
csjcsj Drives: 2010 Camaro SS/RS 6spd Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Jefferson, Ga Posts: 4,399 View My Garage	Never would have noticed if not for someone pointing it out! __________________

11-02-2011, 12:13 PM	#7
PAUL SS The Mark of Excellence Drives: 2010 ABM 1SS RS LS3 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Smallest State in the Union Posts: 8,688 View My Garage	I agree with post #3, kind of like why do things under the hood end up where they are. __________________ BMR, CAI, DynoMax, Elite Eng., Hurst, Jannetty, Clear Image Headers & Hi Flow cats, Jet Hot, LSR, TSW, VMax, Vredestein

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10-28-2011, 12:36 PM	#2
JWoj3540 Drives: 2012 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Metro Detroit Posts: 696	Anyone have any clue?

10-28-2011, 12:42 PM	#3
The Stig knows 2 facts about ducks Drives: ...and they're both wrong Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The HMS Invincible Posts: 25,072 View My Garage	I think it's for packaging reasons. Where you place the caliper shouldn't impact stopping power. __________________

11-02-2011, 12:11 PM	#6
JWoj3540 Drives: 2012 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Metro Detroit Posts: 696	bump, anyone else have any idea?

11-02-2011, 03:09 PM	#8
PfadtRacing Drives: 2010 Camaro, 2006 Z06 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: SLC, UT Posts: 3,370	Well there are a couple different reasons why they positioned the calipers on the Corvette where they do. 1. Because moving as much mass as possible, as low as possible, and towards the middle as possible is almost always a good thing in a performance vehicle. Since it didn't require any more effort to design a bracket to mount the caliper on the back side they may as well do it. You will actually see some LMP race cars who have no rules on where they can mount calipers positioning their calipers at the 4 o oclock position in the front and the 7 o'clock position on the rear to take advantage of this. 2. And the bigger reason... Packaging. The front suspension of a Corvette is packed up pretty tight. The front steering linkage coming from the steering rack is encroaching on space that a caliper mounted on the 9 o'clock position would. From a braking effectiveness aspect there is little to no difference where you mount the caliper, so long as it's making contact with the brake rotor. More often than not it comes down to where ever you can find space for those big calipers without hitting anything.